DISCOVERY OF HEPHAESTION TOMB
By Prof. L. Kaliambos (Kaliambos-Natural philosophy) October 3, 2015 DISCOVERY OF HEPHAESTION TOMB (ΑΝΑΚΑΛΥΨΗ ΤΟΥ ΤΑΦΟΥ ΤΟΥ ΗΦΑΙΣΤΙΩΝΑ) New findings like the monogram (ΦΗ) of Hephaestion ( ΗΦΑΙΣΤΙΩΝ) was discovered by Katerina Peristeri, the archeologist in charge of the excavation of the Amphipolis tomb. These very important findings confirm my discovery of the MATHEMATICAL TOMB OF HEPHAESTION. ( See my first paper “Confusing Kasta Tomb and Geometry” announced by me in November of 2014) .This photo is from the interview I gave to the author of Spiritual Thessaly, Dimitra Bardani in TV Thessalia (Greece) about my discovery of Hephaestion tomb. For these new findings in the GREEK REPORTER (Sep. 30, 2015) one reads: “Katerina Peristeri, the archaeologist in charge of the excavation of the Amphipolis tomb, presented a new finding that may reveal the identity of the individual initially buried in the tomb. During a conference in Thessaloniki, Greece, Peristeri said that her team discovered the monogram of''' Hephaestion a general and closest friend of Alexander the Great. The archaeologist revealed that the monogram of Hefaestion is found in three inscriptions, project contracts, for the construction of the monument. Peristeri also said that the new findings show that the monument was commissioned by a powerful individual of that era, which could be Alexander himself. According to ancient historian Plutarch, when Hephaestion died suddenly in Ecbatana, Iran, Alexander asked architect Deinokrates to erect shrines all over the country. Peristeri believes the complex was built in the final quarter of the fourth century BC (325-300 BC) and was used until Roman times.” It is of interest to note that my discovery of the mathematical tomb of Hephaestion was based on the diameter (d) of the Hephaestion cone pyramid, which is equal to the Hellenistic stadium d = 157.5 m. The discovery was also based on the astronomical numbers 3, 7, and 12 which are the sam in the walls of ancient Alexandria in Egypt. However Katerina Peristeri , in August of 2014, announced that the Amphipolis tomb is a magnificent cone pyramid with a diameter D = 158.4 m, because it was calculated with respect to a perimeter of 497 m measured outside the surrounding wall. Moreover in the absence of a detailed knowledge about the ancient astronomy the excavation team of Amphipolis could not relate it with the correct diameter of the tomb: d = 1 Hellenistic stadium = 157.5 m According to the history of Greek people ( volume Δ ) after the death of Hephaestion (324 BC) Alexander the Great ordered his general Perdiccas for burning the body of Hephaestion in Babylon in a monument, called “Pyre”, and after six months, when messengers brought the oracle of Amun that Hephaestion should be worshiped as a divine hero, Alexander ordered his architect Dinocrates for planning an expensive monument for the Hero Hephaestion, having a base at the very great size of one stadium = 157.5 m. Today there is a votive relief of the HERO HEPHAESTION with a Greek inscription ΔΙΟΓΕΝΗΣ ΗΦΑΙΣΤΙΟΝΙ ΗΡΩΙ ( Diogenes to Hephaestion Hero). Note that also the astronomer Eratosthenes for measuring the perimeter of earth ( 250 BC) used the same Hellenistic stadium of 157.5 m. Moreover Aristarchus of Samos based on the Alexandrian stadium used by Eratosthenes developed the heliocentric system responsible for the progress of physics and astronomy. So one can find my 15 papers of math about the Hero Hephaestion in my FUNDAMENTAL PHYSICS CONCEPTS. After the death of Αlexander (323 BC) the expensive monument was cancelled by Perdiccas and after the death of Perdiccas ( 321 BC) Antipater of Macedonia in Syria appointed himself supreme regent of all Alexander’s empire. Antipater returned to Macedonia in 320 BC ( page 253 ), where the Greek archaeologist Peristeri (2012) discovered the Amphipolis cone pyramid. Surprisingly using the historical sources and applying a combinatory method related to ancient astronomy I discovered that the Amphipolis cone pyramid has a diameter equal to the one Alexandrian stadium = 157.5 m. So confirming the historical sources one should conclude that in 320 BC it was made by Dinocrates for the divine hero Hephaestion, because the tomb includes also the same astronomical numbers 7, 12 and 3 as those used for the foundation of the ancient Alexandria in Egypt (331 BC). On the other hand in the lower levels of the third chamber in November 2014 were found 550 bones scattered within and outside of the grave, and the ministry of culture on January 19, 2015 announced that the three bones of them belong to an adult person and that the cremated person was the first “tenant” of the tomb since ancient Greeks had stopped burning their dead after the 3rd-2nd century B.C. '''USING A COMBINATOTY METHOD I FOUND THAT THE HELENISTIC STADIUM AND THE ASTRONOMICAL NUMBERS 3, 7 ,AND 12 WERE USED FOR THE DEVINE HERO HEPHAESTION In the absence of a detailed knowledge about the astronomy and math of ancient Egypt and Greece the excavation team of Amphipolis could not relate the diameter D = 158.4 m to the correct diameter d = 1 Alexandrian stadium = 157.5 m. For example the architect M. Lefantzis as a member of the excavation team based on a wrong diagram of ancient Alexandria in Egypt believes incorrectly that the one Alexandrian stadium is equal to 165 m. ( See my REVIEW OF AMPHIPOLIS PRESS CONFERENCE). In fact, using the HEPTASTADIUM of a diagram in the “History of Alexandria-WIKIPEDIA” I discovered the astronomical numbers 7, 12 , and 3 applied by Dinocrates for calculating the perimeter (P) of walls of Alexandria P = 7X12 = 84 stades . Then a detailed analysis of the D = 158.4 m based on the same astronomical numbers led to the relation of the one Alexandrian stadium ( d = 157.5 m ) to the diameter D = 158.4 m in Amphipolis. Surprisingly I discovered also that all dimensions of the cone pyramid are related to the same astronomical numbers used by Dinocrates for planning the perimeter of the walls in Alexandria. This fact, confirms the conclusions of the archaeologist Peristeri that the Amphipolis tomb was made by the same architect Dinocrates who planned the walls of Alexandria in 331 BC. Moreover I discovered that Alexander the Great in both cases of the foundation of Alexandria and the planning of the Hero Hephaestion tomb gave to Dinocrates the same mystic numbers receiving them from the Oracle of Amun. In other words to avoid the wrong interpretation for the measured D = 158.4 m of the excavation team of Amphipolis I used a combinatory method based on the dimensions of the Amphipolis tomb and under a detailed historical analysis related to the ancient astronomy I discovered that the Amphipolis tomb is the significant mathematical monument (as a miniature of ancient Alexandria) made by the architect Dinocrates for the well known “HERO HEPHAESTION”. A similar method was used also by the British architect Ventris, who in 1952 deciphered linear B which extended in archaeology the Greek history. My discovery helps the study of the Hellenistic period, because the mathematical tomb of Hephaestion in Amphipolis is the only one survived monument which gives us today the unit of length used by Dinocrates. Since Dinocrates worked for the government, no one could order him for personal purposes. Such a detailed mathematical information based on the dimensions of Amphipolis tomb supports the ideas of the Archaeologist Peristeri who always emphasized that the Amphipolis tomb was made by Dinocrates for an Alexander’s hero-general. In fact, Dinocrates in his plan using the radius R = d/2 = 0.5 stades determined the perimeter (P) of the circular base of the cone pyramid as P = 2πR = πd = 3.1416 X 157.5 = 494.8 m . Of course the d = 1 stadium = 157.5 m is the diameter corresponding to the medium line (mean perimeter) of the surrounding wall along the circular base having a width w = D-d. Surprisingly I discovered that Dinocrates in his plan determined also the second greater diameter D = 158.4 m of a perimeter measured outside the surrounding wall by using the astronomical number 3. In his plan of astronomical numbers for calculating the volume (v) of the marbles of the circular wall he suggested that v = 0.3/103 cubic stades, which includes the mystic numbers related to 3 = (7X12)/28. As in the case of the walls of Alexandria Dinocrates also suggested that the height of the wall (h) and the width (w) should be related with the astronomical number 3 . That is h/w = 3. So h = 3w. Here P = π is the length of a parallelepiped in which the height h = 3w. So the volume ( v ) of the parallelepiped ( volume of marbles of the surrounding wall ) should be given by v = πhw = 0.3/103 cubic stades, or v = π (3w)w = 0.3/103 So w2 = 0.3/3π103 and w = D-d = (0.3/3π103)0.5 stades That is D = d + w = 1 + ( 0.3/3π103)0.5 stades Since 1 stadium is equal to 157.5 m one gets D = 157.5 + 0.9 = 158.4 m. On the other hand since the height (H) of the cone pyramid is H = d/7, I discovered the math of Dinocrates who calculated the volume ( V ) of the cone pyramid by using the following math as V = (1/3) (πd2/4)H or V = (1/3) (πd2/4) (d/7) = πd3/(7X12) . Since d =1 stadium he got V = π/(7X12) cubic stades. In other words we see here that the volume of the Hephaestion cone pyramid includes the same astronomical numbers 7 and 12, as those of the walls of ancient Alexandria including also the mathematical constant π = 3.1416. THE TOTAL HEIGHT OF AMPHIPOLIS LION SHOULD BE EQUAL TO 1/12 STADES According to the excavation history in the period 1971-1984 the archaeologist Dimitris Lazaridis discovered on the top of the Kasta Tomb Hill a strange construction having a shape of a parallelepiped with a base of 9.95X9.95 = 99 m2 and a height of 5.2 m. That is, he discovered a building having a volume 99X5.2 = 514.8 m3 . Since the mean density of a marble is about 2.5 tonnes per cubic meter one can estimate that the building was heavy of about 1,287 tonnes. Such a heavy parallelepiped without any inscription of course led to a serious puzzle about its purpose. Fortunately today the lead archeologist of Amphipolis Katerina Peristeri should be very happy because in 2012 she found during the excavation parts of the lion statue and solved the problem by concluding that the strange parallelepiped was the foundation base of the lion statue, which has been originally placed on the top of the cone pyramid. However during Christian vandalisms ( 330-361 AD) the lion with its base was destroyed and pieces of lion were curried from the top of the cone pyramid to the river Strymonas . ( See my "Tomb raiders of Amphipolis"). Such pieces were found by Greek soldiers during the Second Balkan War that had camped in the area during 1912 - 1913. They were followed by British soldiers a few years later in 1916 during World War I who also discovered significantly large parts of the monument. In the early 1930s during works for drying part of the Lake Kerkini nearby, there was a discovery of an ancient bridge and close to it within the mud of the river further very large pieces of the marble lion. In 1937, and thanks to Lincoln MacVeagh the US ambassador in Greece at the time, there was a private initiative along with support and funds from the Greek government to restore the Lion of Amphipolis, which eventually came to be in its current form. The whole process has been documented thoroughly by Oscar Broneer in his book 'The Lion of Amphipolis' published in 1941. Michalis Lefantzis, the architect who elaborated the draft of Kasta Tomb for the Ministry of Culture made a shocking revelation. He told the journalists attending the presentation that a British brigade was planning to transfer to London 1,000 pieces of the monument precinct, along with the statue of the lion. On the day of the transfer, Austrian and Bulgarian troops attacked the British convoy and, as a result, the barges sunk in the river Strymonas and the ancient artifacts were “saved”. According to the “Kasta tomb-Wikipedia” the height of the lion with its base is 8 m. Thus the total height including the foundation base is h = 8 + 5.2 = 13.2 m . That is 13.2/157.5 = 1/12 stades . So to avoid the confusion presented by the excavation team about the total height of the Hephaestion cone pyramid I discovered also that Dinocrates using the same astronomical numbers 7 and 12 could determine the total height ( Y ) of the cone pyramid. Since the height of the cone pyramid is equal to d/7 and the height of the statue of the lion with the two bases is equal to d/12 I discovered that Dinocrates for determining Y used the following math as Y = d/7 + d/12 = d(7+12)/(7X12) Since d = 1 stadium he could also write Y = (7+12)/(7X12) stades. Since one Alexandrian stadium = 157.5 m , today one gets a total height of the cone pyramid Y = 35.6 m. Unfortunately the architect M. Lefantzis of the excavation team in order to provide an harmonic relation between the total height (h ) of the lion of Amphipolis and the diameter (D =158.4 m) of the circular base of the Kasta hill increased arbitrarily the total height from the correct h = 13.2 m to the wrong h =15.84 m, so that the ratio being 10 times smaller than the diameter (D = 158.4 m). On the other hand in the 28th Excavation Meeting for Macedonia and Thrace ( March 7, 2015) the geologist Evangelos Kampouroglou provided a new inconsistent hypothesis which contradicts the history of excavation: "The Kasta tomb hill is natural, not artificial. It consists of sediments of quartzite sand, clay and sandstone, which give it a limited durability and render it unable to support any weight over 500 tonnes. The lion, with its base, weigh over 1,500 tonnes”. ( See “Lion of Amphipolis no part of Casta tomb hill..”) Here one sees that Kampouroglou avoided to speak about the foundation base of the lion of 1,287 tonnes discovered on the top of the Kasta Tomb Hill by the archaeologist Dimitris Lazaridis. So one may ask how the hill was able to support for over two thousand years the building of 1,287 tonnes , which is much more heavier than the 500 tonnes. Moreover Kampouroglou did not use the concepts of physics. For example the pressure of the lion with its bases is 1500 tonnes per 99 m2 = 15.15. This pressure is a little grater than the atmospheric pressure (10 tonnes per 1 m2 ). Under this new confusing speculation Katerina Peristeri, expressed her frustration in an interview with protothema.gr over Kambouroglou’s decision to make a presentation on the Casta Tomb at the Scientific Meeting for the Archaeological Work in Macedonia and Thrace. “According to the excavation team, Kambouroglou’s participation in the meeting not only violates the agreement between the people involved in the project to allow time for the study of the findings before any presentation is made, but is also an unethical and illegal act.” More specifically, lead archaeologist Katerina Peristeri told protothema.gr that Kambouroglou’s initiative violates the provision of Law. 3028/2002 (Article 39) which states that the publication of any material resulting from an excavation or other archaeological research must be authorized by the entity having the exclusive rights, as defined in the paragraphs 3,4,5 and 7 of Article 39 in the same law. LOOTING AND VANDALISM OF THE MATHEMATICAL TOMB OF HEPHAESTION Most archaeologists believe that the first looting of the Amphipolis tomb took place during the Roman era with campaigns to conquer Greek land. According to the History of Greek People ( Ekdotike Athenon, Volume E, from page 120 to page 130 ) on June 22, 168 BC the Roman General Lucius Aemilius Paulus (c. 229 BC – 160 BC ) won the decisive battle of Pydna. The King of Macedonia Perseus was made prisoner and the Third Macedonian War ended. After the battle of Pydna Aemilius Paulus soon was located for a long time in Amphipolis, because he learned that the city was full of treasures. Taking into account the press conference ( November 29, 2014) that the Hephaestion cone pyramid was open like a museum, one should conclude that for Paulus it was very easy to loot all buried treasure. But according to the historical sources he did not destroy the statues, and the mosaics, because he loved the Greek culture. In 167 B.C. in Amphipolis Aemilius Paulus proclaimed the "freedom" of the Macedonians. However, in practice, he divided the Macedonian state into four parts separated by sealed borders. Amphipolis, Pella, Thessaloniki, and Pelagonia were named the capitals. Meanwhile, back in Macedonia , while permitting his army time to rest over the fall and winter in Amphipolis, Paulus set about on a tour of the country, visiting all the major centers. It was during this tour that the real “victory celebrations” began. They would last in their entirety until after his official triumph in Rome (167 B.C). Understanding the history of the tomb raiders of Hephaestion cone pyramid at Amphipolis depends critically on determining when and by whom the intensive sealing operation was conducted. One can answer this question by concluding that after the spectacular triumph at Rome with the golden decoration of the statues of Amphipolis the “free Macedonians” erected the sealing walls for protecting from any future vandalism what Aemilius Paulus abandoned as remains in good condition, like the sphinxes , the caryatids, and the mosaics. The difficulty with a Roman era sealing is the question of motive. It will have been expensive and time-consuming to build the sealing walls and to dredge and transport thousands of tons of sand. Also, since there were no grave goods left, the only thing of possible value inside the tomb was the bones themselves. Yet these bones were left scattered about in and out of the grave slot. If the sealer was concerned to protect the bones, why did he not tidy them up before sealing the tomb? An easy way to remove doubt on the sealing date would be to conclude that the “free Macedonians” in a small period after 167 CD were able to erect in front of the sphinxes only the sealing walls. In that period all three of the chambers within were not filled with sand. It happened much more later (fourth century AD) when fanatic Christians, like vandals, destroyed the statue of the lion on the top of the cone pyramid and inside the cone pyramid they destroyed also the sphinxes, the caryatids and the mosaics. In fact, the archaeologist Katerina Peristeri said on November 29th that there were no potsherds or coins in the main chamber, but that the archaeologists found a lot in other areas: “In the main chamber we do not have any grave goods. They have been taken away or maybe they were somewhere else. The geo-survey that we are doing may give us more info about what there might be elsewhere, but in the other areas we have pottery and coins that are being cleaned and studied. We simply haven’t shown them to you. The dating is in the last quarter of the fourth century B.C in one phase and we have coins from the 2nd century B.C, which is the era of the last Macedonians to protect their monument and from the Roman years from the 3rd century A.D.” Unfortunately, this remains ambiguous on the question of whether any of this evidence was found within the sealing wall erected in front of the sphinxes. In general, the latest datable material is likely to be a good indication of when the Hephaestion cone pyramid was finally sealed. If anything definitely Roman has been found inside that wall, then the final sealing was very probably at the period of the emperor Julian who after a vandalism made by fanatic Christians of Constantine’s era governed later to love Greek culture. In that case the parallel evidence that the tomb has only been lightly visited may imply that the sealing history is fairly complex, involving an early sealing, at the time after167 BC, a later opening and a final re-sealing at the time of the emperor Julian (361-363). According to the History of Greek People ( Ekdotike Athenon, Volume ΣΤ page 200, and Volume Z, pages 40 and 42 ) during the third century AD under a new policy of Romans the worship of Alexander the Great was revived in Macedonia, while later Constantine the Great during his rule promoted Christians to high office and fanatic persons destroyed a large number of temples and monuments. In other words in a period from 330 to 337 fanatic Christians destroyed the statue of lion, the sphinxes, the caryatids and the mosaics. They also destroyed several other monuments near Amphipolis having statues and bones. Fortunately during the era of emperor Julian, sane Macedonians in Amphipolis were able to protect the ruined grave of the Hero Hephaestion by another future vandalism. AFTER A CAREFUL ANALYSIS OF THE COINS AND BONES I FOUND THAT AFTER THE CHRISTIAN VANDALISMS THE GRAVE OF HERO HEPHAESTION BECAME AN OSSUARY WITH BONES FOR CULT On January 19, 2015 Greece’s Ministry of Culture announced that in the Amphipolis cone pyramid was found a limestone with 550 bones belonging not only to a dead person who was cremated at a time prior to the death of other 4 dead persons but also animal bones (not complete skeletons). This discovery of a limestone containing not only hundreds of human bones but also animal bones has remained a mystery. Perhaps horsemen as the defenders of the monument of Hero Hephaestion were killed under the anti-paganism policies. (330-361 AD). The DNA and the dating of bones through accelerator mass spectrometry that will follow could determine if the bones for cult belong to rulers of early periods or were gathered from cemeteries or other places after religious controversies between the defenders of the tomb and the fanatic Christians. (See my CRITICISM OF BONE RESULTS IN AMPHIPOLIS). Note that it is more difficult to determine the identity of the burned remains of the probable “tenant” to confirm the historical sources about the “Pyre” of Hephaestion. (324 BC). It is of interest to notice that according to the British author Chugg the few fragments found of an adult cremation could in fact be the original occupant. In the “Five Dead Inside Amphipolis Tomb” ( Greek Reporters, January 19, 2015) one reads: “ Greece ‘s Ministry of Culture made an official announcement today saying that the laboratory results of the examination of the human skeletal material found inside the grave in the Amphipolis tomb show that four dead were buried in the tomb, along with the remains of a cremated dead.” The Ministry also announced: “The DNA tests that will follow will determine if the buried are related and the burial place is in fact a family tomb. It is certain, however, that the cremated person was the first tenant of the tomb since ancient Greeks had stopped burning their dead after the 3rd -2nd century B.C.” According to the History of Greek People the worship of gods and heroes finished at the era of emperor Theodosius I. See also “ Christian persecution of paganism under Theodosius I –WIKIPEDIA”. In the same way from the time of Constantine I, Christians continue to worship bones in churches. For example today the holy relics of St. Achillius who participated in the Council of Nicaea (325 AD) rest in the metropolitan Cathedral of Saint Achillios in Larissa and his feast is celebrated with great festivity every May 15th. In “Achillius of Larissa- WIKIPEDIA” one also reads: “Upon returning from the Council, Achillius is reputed to have cast down many pagan temples, built many churches, and cast out many demons." CONCLUSIONS According to the history of Greek people ( volume Δ ) after the death of Hephaestion (324 BC) Alexander the Great ordered his general Perdiccas for burning the body of Hephaestion in Babylon in a monument, called “Pyre” (remains of a cremated dead were discovered in the mathematical tomb of Hephaestion). After six months, when messengers brought the oracle of Amun that Hephaestion should be worshiped as a divine hero, Alexander ordered his architect Dinocrates for planning an expensive monument for the Hero Hephaestion, having a base at the very great size of one Hellenistic stadium = 157.5 m. Indeed, the Amphipolis cone pyramid has the diameter of one Hellenistic stadium and includes the astronomical numbers 3, 7, and 12 as those used by Dinocrates for the foundation of Alexandria. Of course the most important discovery is related with the new findings like the monogram (ΦΗ) of Hephaestion ( ΗΦΑΙΣΤΙΩΝ). Moreover today in the Thessaloniki musem there is a votive relief of the HERO HEPHAESTION with a Greek inscription ΔΙΟΓΕΝΗΣ ΗΦΑΙΣΤΙΟΝΙ ΗΡΩΙ ( Diogenes to Hephaestion Hero) Category:Fundamental physics concepts